Hola estudiantes! I am Jaime Escalante and I will be your teacher for this year. I was born in La Paz, Bolivia. In the 1960s I came to America to continue my passion for teaching, just as my parents. My favorite subject has always been math, especially Calculus. I began teaching math at Garfield High School and let me tell you, those kids were not a walk in the park. However, I always believed that a teacher should never, ever let a student give up. Just because the school was in a bad neighborhood, that doesn't mean that the kids are bad as well. I also believed that if you want to make it, you need to have Ganas, or "desire or drive". If you have the Ganas, I truly believe you can do anything you put your mind to; and hard work. When my students showed me that they were serious about learning, I worked them to the bone. We did math problems before, during and after school. My kids ate, slept and lived mathematics. They worked so hard for the grades they received. When it was time for the Advanced Placement test in Calculus, all 18 of my students passed! I had never been more proud until that moment. All of their hard work finally payed off. However, those who wrote the test saw it differently. They believed that I allowed my students to cheat and that is how they passed their tests! What I think is that the test makers believed that because my students were Hispanic in a bad neighborhood, they could never do as well as other kids. Well we showed them! They forced my kids to retake the test and they still passed! I believe that it is important to see the potential in every pupil, no matter what background they come from. If they want to learn, they will, they just need the right person to help them.
Hola estudiantes! I am Jaime Escalante and I will be your teacher for this year. I was born in La Paz, Bolivia. In the 1960s I came to America to continue my passion for teaching, just as my parents. My favorite subject has always been math, especially Calculus. I began teaching math at Garfield High School and let me tell you, those kids were not a walk in the park. However, I always believed that a teacher should never, ever let a student give up. Just because the school was in a bad neighborhood, that doesn't mean that the kids are bad as well. I also believed that if you want to make it, you need to have Ganas, or "desire or drive". If you have the Ganas, I truly believe you can do anything you put your mind to; and hard work. When my students showed me that they were serious about learning, I worked them to the bone. We did math problems before, during and after school. My kids ate, slept and lived mathematics. They worked so hard for the grades they received. When it was time for the Advanced Placement test in Calculus, all 18 of my students passed! I had never been more proud until that moment. All of their hard work finally payed off. However, those who wrote the test saw it differently. They believed that I allowed my students to cheat and that is how they passed their tests! What I think is that the test makers believed that because my students were Hispanic in a bad neighborhood, they could never do as well as other kids. Well we showed them! They forced my kids to retake the test and they still passed! I believe that it is important to see the potential in every pupil, no matter what background they come from. If they want to learn, they will, they just need the right person to help them.
Sources: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125398451
Check out my Prezi to learn more about me as a person!
http://prezi.com/ypqhrp9q7byv/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Here's a newspaper article as well from CNN!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/04/02/navarrette.escalante.lessons/